At present, theft of merchandise in the United States is a problem of staggering dimensions. Retail stores of clothing, jewelry, and home furnishings must often resort to chaining or otherwise physically securing merchandise on display. Often measures for physically securing merchandise result in damage to the item, particularly when fragile articles are chained or otherwise attached to an immovable object. Locked items also present an inconvenience to the shopper and require that the store employ more saleshelpers. A similar problem is presented when goods are warehoused. Patrols by watchmen or surveillance with cameras greatly increases the cost of maintaining goods in storage.
A number of systems have been devised to secure articles of commerce, particulary retail merchandise. Electrical security devices have been devised wherein a circuit is maintained by a wire passing through the merchandise. However, electrical security systems suffer from a number of deficiencies. First, they are bulky and limited in the amount of merchandise that can be secured by the resistance of the electrical wires and the voltages that can be safely used in any device that may come in contact with consumers. Electrical systems are also typically unsuitable for outdoor applications because moisture will cause corrosion of connectors and thus intermittent failures. Additionally, thieves can easily tamper with such systems by short-circuiting with pins or splices the link that passes through a particular piece of merchandise which is sought. Moreover, electrical security devices can be prone to operating difficulties when located near high voltage lines or other voltage sources or radiowave generators. The electrical security devices, themselves, also can interfere with other electrical devices present in the store.
Another approach to securing merchandise, particularly in retail stores, has been to tag each individual item of merchandise with a device which is capable of disrupting or otherwise changing an electromagnetic field or signal. Typically, these devices take the form of integrated circuit patterns which are attached to each item and removed subsequent to purchase. If a thief attempts to remove an item from the store with the tag intact, passage through a detector, which typically generates a characteristic magnetic, microwave or radio field, will cause an alarm to be triggered. Unfortunately, these triggering devices do not reduce significantly the labor force needed to maintain a retail store. Triggers must be attached to each item and subsequently removed. Additionally, the electromagnetic fields generated by the detectors can be harmful to some customers, for example, individuals with implanted cardiac pacemakers. Moreover, the attachment of the devices can sometimes lead to damaged merchandise and a thief can circumvent the system by either removing the trigger device himself or herself, or otherwise shielding it prior to passing through the detector.
There exists a need for better security systems that are convenient and inexpensive, yet foolproof. Portable, reliable security systems which can operate, for example, on batteries while securing large enclosures would satisfy a long-felt need in the industry. Moreover, security systems which are not labor intensive and not easily bypassed, would represent an improvement in this field.